Chapter 24

Night was ready and walked out of the Arluq with her new Iron Insect Glaive that The Man made for her on her back with her bow with Salim at heel waiting at the entrance to the very small beach town for Saachi. "So… they now?" Salim asks Night.

Night was leaning on the entrance gates that her arms crossed across her chest that was in between the quest board and the open-air kitchen. "Hmmhmmm… they know." She said as she was looking down at him as he sat down on a small boulder that sat next to the gate.

Salim flattens his ears and scratches his face in discomfort. "Yikes. So what is going to happen now?" He asked.

"They won't rat her out to the Guild, but it'll definitely take some time for them to get over the shock." Night answered his question.

He turns his face to Night after a long quiet paues. "...how's Blue taking it?" He asked but with Night not saying anything to him was saying enough to him. "That bad, huh?"

"She had her reason to hide this. This is something that you can't tell anyone." As Night looked over to see Saachi was approaching them. She looked back to Salim telling him. "Alright Salim, let's do this." As Saachi walked past Night and Salim with a head gesture to follow her.

As Saachi and Night both walked into the humid hot hunting ground when the sun could shine through the canopy of the trees, the tent was on a small piece of dry land with the item chest on another piece of dry land. As they walked Saachi notes that Night had an Insect Glaive on her back with the same time her bow after a few times she looked over her shoulder. "I didn't know that you can use an Insect Glaive? Who taught you?" She asked as she pushed some large leaves out of the way that lead to one of the large open areas on the hunting ground.

"Malcolm." She answered Saachis' question. The meachen to her late husband, Malcolm brought out pain back from the horrifying night when she lost him and her son. She shook her head to get the memories out of her head to keep focus on the investigation at hand.

Saachi just watches at Night experience. 'Malcolm must have been her husband she manchen' She thought to herself and said. "Was he your…" she stopped herself as she thought she had seen yellow with green and red blended into the scale before disappearing back into the woods. Saachi places her hand onto the handle of her sword ready to unsheath. "Stay on alert, there is something nearby." She told Night as Night drawing her bow to be at the ready. Two huge scales came flying at the hunters, one flying by the two of them with their two palicos landing on the ground behind them, the other landed in front of Saachi. "What in the Burning Planes are they coming from?"

Two more came flying out from the trees landing on the other sides of the hunting party boxing them in. "I don't know?" Night answered as she and Saachi were standing with their backs together with their palicos serving as well. All four scales started to vibrate as they heard a loud sound that seemed to get louder as the pitch was increasing, forcing the hunters to cover their ears. One by one the scales blow up sending bits and pieces flying.

Night looked up to see a large monster that looked like a snake with large scales that lined the back of the monster's head and down its back as it used two powerful front arms that had shape claws at the end. It had a beak that had a deep colour tongue flicking in and out. With her ears still ringing she tapped Saachi's shoulder which made her turn around to see the large monster. "This must be it." She says as she is now looking at the large monster.

It lifts its head up with its long and flexible neck as it wraps itself around with its tail with more large scales the line the tip of the tail from what saachi can tall of scales that has been shared over and over again just to stack to each other. "Well great." Night said as she pull out an arrow out and nocks the arrow into place on the bow and aiming at the monster. Night did not take her eyes off the monster and she told Salim. "Salim get a trap ready, we entered it until it's ready."

The gray palico nodded his head. "You got it." He replies. Wasting no time, he runs off to prepare the trap. The monster follows the gray palico with it's head but it was shot by an arrow making the large monster look to the two hunters.

As the monster watches the two hunters and the light brown furry company, flicking its dark tongue in and out of its beak. "Now that we have it's attention, let's attack it." Night says as she notches three more arrows taking aim at the large snake. Saachi and Sandstorm both charge at the snake monster unsheathing their weapons. Sandstorm launched himself into the air ramming his lance into the monster's neck cracking some of the scales the ran down the large serpentine neck forcing the monster to catch itself with its front arms. As Saachi got close to one of the monster's front arms dodging the other set of claws that came flying straight at her just to miss her. She used the arm to the monster launching herself up to slash up the monster shoulder but as she was falling back down the snake monster just barely nipped Saachi with one of its fangs it had hidden in its mouth sending a paralyzing feel into her body making her plummet to the ground as she was unable to get her body to stop twitching. The large snake coiled around Saachi and it flicked it's dark tongue at her. Night put away her bow and pulled out her newly made Insect Glaive, launching herself into the air to stab the snake monster into the base of the neck.

The monster let out a painful roar as it felt the glaive blade plunge straight into the neck shaking its head trying to get Night off, forcing Night to pull her Glaive out and jump off. "Alright, the trap is done!" Salim yelled as the monster looked straight at Night growling through its beak as Night landed on the ground.

"Good! Get another one ready!" She yelled as she sprinted to the trap sliding to a stop in front of the trap pulling out her bow as she turned to face the large snake monster as it chased after her, she waited for the monster to get closer to her. As it got closer and closer to her until she launched herself into the air performing a backflip over the trap releasing the bow string letting her arrows pierce into the monster's neck as it stepped rate on to the trap. The monster's body was filled with high voltage as it's muscles froze in shock trap. Night fire arrow after arrow when she was still in the air, as she landed on the ground she grabbed three of her really sharp arrowheads and drew the bow string as far she could draw it to release the arrows that ripped through the length of the monster's body as the arrows made contact.

Sandstorm saw his hunting partner was still paralyzed from the large snake. Running over to free her by hitting her with his lance. Once she had movement in her body, Saachi pulled herself up and headed straight for the monster that was shocked in the trap. She slashing the side of the monster and using the monster hand to launch herself into the air. As she was going back down she plunged her sword into the monster's shoulder. When she landed she had seen that the monster had been freed as the high voltage stopped. It slash its large claws at her to get it away from it as it looked at Night whipping its tail one way to the other firing off four scales that surrounds Night. The monster rattles its tail, blowing it up sending pieces of hard and sharp scales at Night. She launched her grappling hook into a nearby tree and pulled herself out of the sonic explosion but she still got caught by it. Unhooking her grabbing hook and landing on a tree branch. She pulls her bow out and fires an arrow at the monster. "Ok another trap ready!" Salim said as the snake monster climbed up the tree using its sharp claws onto the tree trunk.

The snake monster climbed higher up the tree as it snapped its beak at Night just to come crashing down to the ground as Saachi and Sandstorm both ram the side of the monster's lower body. The monster pulls itself up and turns to stare at Saachi and her old palico. It took a step to them and they both turned putting their weapons away, sprinting at full speed with the monster chasing after them. As they got closer to the trap Sandstorm dug under the ground while Saachi jumped over the trap landing on her stomach as she covered her head with her arms. She pulled herself up and continued to run until she heard the trap go off. She slid, turning to a stop to see the monster was trapped. "Alright, all out attacks on it!" Night yelled as she jumped off the tree branch releasing volley after volley of arrows into the monster as Salim threw bombs at it. Saachi rushed at the monster with Sandstorm by her side; she slit the side of the monster open then she slash her sword again leaving a cut onto it's arm. Sandstorm ram into the monster with which he had cracked it's hard scales, turning around when he touches the ground just to relaunch himself back at the monster until the monster breaks free from the trap. Lashing it's tail at Saachi with her just to block the incoming tail, forcing her to slide back as her shield took the force of the impact.

As saachi saw the monster was returning into the ground she got out a wheatstone and started to sharpen her sword since she was watching her sword was chipping from the broken scales. 'I am going to have to make a hunting request to finish this property.' Saachi thought to herself as she put her sword back onto her lower back. Seeing Night was still attending to her weapons, so Saachi pulled out her hunting logbook which she had a special holster for and started to draw and write down some things she picked up on the monster that she and Night last finished fighting. After she was done she looked up to see Night was putting her bow and insect glaive onto her back. Getting up off the ground and dust herself up. "Ready to head back to… where are we exactly?" She asked Night as Night walked by her side.

Night let out a small chuckle go as she shook her head but the chuckle quickly faded away and was replaced with a sad sigh. "We are in some place called Cheeko Sands." Night wiped a tear from her eye trying to hide it from Saachi as Cheeko Sands reminded her of her home with her husband and son.

But with no luck Saachi saw it. "Hey, is everything ok?" She asked as she placed her hand onto Nights' shoulder.

Night nods her head. "Ya just old memories."

Saachi nodded her head as she walked next to her. "I see, you know I am always here if you ever need anything, it's my duty as the lead hunter and as your friend." Night gave a small smile to Saachi and then made it to Cheeko Sands. As they made their way to the damaged ship Saachi sewed Sandstorm flick his ears to a white palico with dark brown spots with a hint of light brown in the middle of the spots with the dark brown bands around it's long skinny tail. "Who is she, Sandstorm?" She asked.

He looked back at Saachi and replied. "She is one of my kits from one of mine and my mate Mist littlers." He was give off small happy purrs as he seen her

As the white palico turned to see her dad she faced light and she dropped onto all fours and ran over tackling him into the sand. "Dad!" She mowed as she was hugging him as they laid on the sand. "Mom was wondering when you were coming home to visit. She misses you dad." She said as she helped her old man up right again.

Saachi just could give a soft smile to the white palico giving her father a hug when she heard her name being yelled. "SAACHI!!!"